Tilt-down drawer construction



April 22, 1969 W. D. TAYLOR TILT-DOWN DRAWER CONSTRUCTION Sheet 054 Filed Nov. 13, 1967 INVENTOR WILLIAM D TAYLOR M .FIG.8

ATTORNEYS A ril 22, 1999 w. 0. TAYLOR TILT-DOWN DRAWER CONSTRUCTION Sheet Filed Ndv. 13, 1967 5 R v mm 9 m L R WM m m A D M M u m S w em .99 MAR N m v mv April 22, 1969 Filed NOV. 15, 1967 W. D. TAYLOR TILT-DOWN DRAWER CONSTRUCTION FIG.4

INVENTOR WILL IAM D. TAYLOR ATTORNEYS W. D- TAYLOR TILT-DOWN DRAWER CONSTRUCTION A ril 22, 1969 W/LLIAM D. TAYLOR a E 5 mm 7 Wow l I l l i l i I l l 1 l .1 km 3 mm w mm N d 1 m 9 E 9 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,439,967 TILT-DOWN DRAWER CONSTRUCTION William D. Taylor, Wooster, Ohio, assignor to R lbbermaid Incorporated, Wooster, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Nov. 13, 1967, Ser. No. 682,021 lint. Cl. A 47b 88/00, 95/00 U.S. C]. 312307 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention relates generally to storage drawers for a variety of articles, and more particularly to a drawer which tilts downwardly as it is pulled out to make its contents more accessible.

Background of the invention Certain prior drawer constructions have provided rollers rolling in inclined side tracks for tilting the drawer downwardly when pulled out, but the drawer is apt to tilt downwardly to a jarring stop especially when loaded, and is not stable in pulled-out position. Also, it has been diflicult to provide for easy removal of the drawer when desired without permitting accidental dropping of the drawer.

Further, when such prior drawers are mounted on installed cabinets or cupboards it has been a tedious operation to locate and attach the side drawer guides in proper alignment because the supporting surfaces are usually not level. Also, the provision and attachment of the several rollers has resulted in additional expense.

Summary of the invention The present invention is an improved drawer and frame construction having a unitary frame which can be attached to a supporting cabinet surface by a single bolt and easily adjusted to proper alignment, said frame having separate inclined tracks for slidably receiving spaced cam projections on the drawer to control the tilting movement and to provide stable support for the drawer in pulledout position and branch tracks permitting easy removal of the drawer by tilting it upwardly.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved tilt-down drawer construction which is economically constructed, easily installed and sturdy and stable in all positions.

Another object is to provide an improved tilt-down drawer construction which is quickly and easily aligned with existing cabinets.

A further object is to provide an improved plastic tiltdown drawer construction which provides for easy removal of the drawer when desired but guards against accidental removal, and against jarring of the drawer when it is pulled out.

These and other objects are attained by the improved drawer construction shown and described h'erein,'modifications thereof being within the scope of the appended claims.

Description of the drawings FIG. 1 is a plan view of the improved tilt-down drawer construction showing the drawer in closed position.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation thereof. Y

3,439,967 Patented Apr. 22, 1969 FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view on line 3-3'of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view similar to FIG. 3, showing the drawer in fully withdrawn position, and showing in chain lines the drawer tilted upwardly for removal.

FIG. 5 is a transverse sectional view on line 5-5 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a partial transverse sectional view on line 6'6 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a partial plan elevation on line 7-7 of FIG. 5. 7

FIG. 8 is a partial vertical sectional view on line 8--8 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 9 is a partial plan sectional view on line 9-9 of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a partial plan sectional view on line 10--10 of FIG. 8. 9

FIG. 11 is a partial vertical sectional view on line 11- 11 of FIG. 3.

Description of the preferred embodiment The drawer indicated generally at 12 is slidably supported in a frame having opposed side rails 13, the top portions of which are connected by a rear transverse spacer bar 14 and a front transverse spacer bar 15. The side rails and spacer bars are molded plastic material, such as medium impact polystyrene, and the front spacer bar is preferably reinforced by a metal channel 16 extending transversely between the top portions of the side rails, and under the top wall of front spacer bar 15, as best seen in FIGS. 3 and 6.

The side rails 13 preferably comprise vertical longitudinally extending side walls 17 having inturned angular bottom flanges 18 and inturned angular top flanges 19 extending along their bottom and top edges, and connected to inturned angular front and rear flanges 20 and 21 extending along their front and rear edges, respectively. Inturned horizontal flanges 22 spaced below the top flanges 19 extend longitudinally of said side rails at drawer top level and are connected to said flanges 19 by iongitudinally spaced gusset flanges 23.

The front spacer bar 15 comprises a horizontal top wall with downturned angular flanges 24 and 25 extending along its front and rear edges, a pair of downturned transverse flanges 26 engaging the sides of metal channel 16, and a downturned transverse flange 27 between front flange 24 and the foremost flange 26. The side margins of the top wall of spacer 15 are downwardly offset to form marginal flanges 28 fitting under the top flanges 19 of the side rails (FIG. 6).

A center attaching bolt 30 extends through channel 16 between two shallow transverse abutment ribs 31 on the under side of the top wall of spacer bar 15, with the marginal flanges 28 contacting the under sides of side rail top flanges 19. This bolt provides a single attaching means for supporting the frame on the under side of a cupboard or cabinet shelf, and the channel 16 distributes the load to both side rails. i

As shown in FIG. 7, the marginal flanges 28 are provided with slots 29 extending inwardly from their outer edges and receiving the gusset flanges 23 with a frictiontight fit, thus reinforcing the connections between front spacer 15 and the front ends of the side rails 13. Preferably, the marginal flanges 28 are ultrasonically welded to the side rail top flanges 19 along longitudinal weld joints between the slots 29. A spacer boss 15' is preferably provided medially of the top surface of spacer bar 15 at the front thereof, to insure contact at that point with the under surface of the support, as tightening of bolt 30 tends to cause slight bowing of the spacer bar 15.

The rear ends of the side rail top flanges 19 have downwardly offset terminal portions 33 which engage over downwardly offset terminal portions 34 on the rear transverse spacer 14. As seen in FIGS. 8 and 9, the terminal portions 33 have slots 35 receiving interlocking ribs 36 on the terminal portions 34. Adjusting screws 37 are screwed through the overlapping terminal portions 33 and 34 at the inner ends of slots 35, and preferably extend through horizontal flanges 38, 39 and 40 projecting inwardly from the rear vertical flanges 21 on the side rails, T-nuts 41 may be provided on the screws 37 to hold them in adjusted position.

Rubber bumpers 42 are provided on the tops of screws 37, and also on the front end portions of side rails 13, for contacting the under surface of a supporting surface such as the bottom of a cupboard on which the tilt-down drawer construction is mounted. Irregular or non-level surfaces on the supporting surface are compensated for by the adjusting screws 37 and the bumpers 42.

The drawer 12 which is slidably mounted in the frame has a front wall 44 which may have a top and bottom outturned edge flanges 45 and 46, and side flanges 47. A horizontal reinforcing flange 48 extending between the side flanges may also be provided.

Vertical side walls 49 and a bottom wall 50 extend rearwardly from the front wall 44 and connect with a transverse rear wall 51 Preferably, the bottom wall 50 is spaced a slight distance above the bottom edges of front wall 44, rear wall 51 and side walls 49, and transverse reinforcing ribs 52 on the bottom wall extend between the bottom edges of side walls 49. The upper edge of rear wall 51 preferably has an outturned edge flange 53, and gusset flanges 54 coextensive with the flange 53 extend rearwardly from the upper portions of the side walls.

Two tubular cam elements 55 and 56 project laterally outward from each side wall 49 at the top edges thereof, cams 56 being located at the rear corners of the drawer adjacent to the gusset flanges 54, and cams 55 being spaced forwardly a predetermined distance from the cams 56. The cams 55 are slidably engaged in upper inclined cam tracks indicated generally at 57 in the frame side rails 13, and the cams 56 are slidably engaged in lower inclined cam tracks indicated generally at 58 in the frame side rails 13.

The drawer 12 may be integrally molded from a suitable plastic material, such as medium impact polystrene, which imparts sufficient strength and durability to the drawer and the cam elements 55 and 56, while allowing them to slide easily in their respective tracks.

The cam tracks are formed by interior ribs on the frame side rails 13, and are downwardly inclined forwardly. An intermediate rib 60 is common to both tracks, an upper rib 61 parallel to rib 60 bounds the upper track,

and a lower rib 62 bounds the lower track. The rear end of each track 57 is closed by horizontal flange 22, and the front end is closed by the vertical flange 20. Preferably, a bumper 63 is located in the front end of each track 57.

An upwardly and forwardly curved branch track indicated generally at 64 connects angularly with track 57 a short distance from the front end thereof on each side rail 13. Each track 64 is formed by two spaced-apart ribs 65 and 66 which connected at one end with rib 61 of track 57 and at the other end with front flange 20 to form an open-ended branch track.

The forward end of lower track 58 connects angularly with a downwardly and forwardly inclined branch track indicated generally at 67, and located a predetermined distance rearwardly of branch track 64 correlated to spacing between cams 55 and 56, for a purpose to be described. Each branch track 67 is formed by two spaced-apart ribs 68 and 69, a rib 68 being connected to intermediate rib 60 and rib 69 being connected to lower rib 62. The lower ends of ribs 68 and 69 connect with bottom flange 18 to form an open-ended branch track.

As seen in FIG. 3, when the drawer is in fully closed position the cam elements 55 and 56 are located at the rear closed ends of tracks 57 and 58, respectively. The drawer is retained in this position by means of retainer lugs 70 projecting laterally from the front portions of the drawer side walls 49. When the drawer is fully closed, the depending hooks 71 on the lugs 70 engage behind upward extensions 72 of the front flanges 20 of the side rails at the lower ends of tracks 64 where the ribs 66 connect with the front flanges 20. When the drawer is pulled open it is raised slightly to permit the retaining lugs 70 to pass over the extensions 72.

As the drawer is pulled out forwardly, the cams 55 and 56 slide forwardly downward in the inclined parallel tracks 57 and 58, causing the drawer to tilt downwardly, until the cams 55 strike the resilient bumpers 63 in the closed front ends of upper tracks 57. In this position a person standing in front of the drawer is better able to view the contents of the drawer than if it were pulled straight out in level position, particularly if the drawer is mounted at an elevation approaching eye-level, as on the bottom of a cupboard or the like. Since the drawer is always supported by the two spaced cams on each side, it is stable in all positions.

The drawer may be easily removed by merely pushing it inwardly a short distance while applying slight upward pressure until the cams 55 find and enter the upper branch tracks 64, and then pulling the drawer forwardly while continuing to apply slight upward pressure, causing the drawer to tilt upwardly as the cam 55 follows branch track 64 and cam 56 follows branch track 67. When cams 55 and 56 pass through the open ends of tracks 64 and 67, respectively, the drawer is removed, as indicated in chain lines in FIG. 4.

The improved tilt-down drawer construction is lightweight, strong and durable, and attractive in appearance. It can be quickly and easily attached by a single bolt to the underside of and in alignment with existing cupboards and cabinet shelves and easily removed at any time. It has a cushioned stop when fully extended without likelihood of accidental removal and is stable in all positions. There are no rollers to malfunction or replace. A number of the frame and drawer units can be mounted side-by-side, giving an unbroken and attractive appearance to the whole assembly.

I claim:

1. A tilt-down drawer construction comprising a unitary frame adapted for attachment to the under surface of a support by a single attaching means, side rails on the frame, a drawer slidable in said side rails, inclined parallel upper and lower tracks on each side rail, a pair of longitudinally spaced cam elements on each side of said drawer slidable one in each track, said upper tracks being closed at their front ends, and branch tracks angularly connected to said upper and lower tracks and having their forward ends open to permit removal of said drawer by combined upward tilting and forward movement.

2. A tilt-down drawer construction as defined in claim 1, in which the frame side rails and tracks are integrally molded of plastic material.

3. A tilt-down drawer construction as defined in claim 1, in which the drawer and cam elements are integrally molded of plastic material.

4. A tilt-down drawer construction as defined in claim 1, in which the frame side rails are connected by a transverse spacer member embodying a transverse reinforcing bar, and the single attaching means is secured to said bar.

5. A tilt-down drawer construction as defined in claim 3, in which the cam elements are hollow cylinders.

6. A tilt-down drawer construction as defined in claim 1, in which the frame has adjusting means on the side rails to compensate for uneven supporting surfaces.

7. A tilt-down drawer construction as defined in claim 1, in which the closed ends of the upper tracks are provided with cushioning bumpers.

8. A tilt-down drawer construction as defined in claim 2, in which the drawer and cam elements are integrally 2,695,831 11/1954 Sigal 312307 X molded of plastic material and the cam elements are hol- 2 39 349 1953 Culver 312 .323 low cylinders.

9. A tilt-down drawer construction as defined in claim 3220364 11/1965 Sandm 211153 1, in which the frame side rails and tracks, and the drawer FOREIGN PATENTS and cam elements are integrally molded of medium im- 5 Pact polystyrene 423,887 2/ 1935 Great Britain.

10. A tilt-down drawer construction as defined in claim 4, in which the frame has adjusting means on the side rails JAMES MCCALL, P 'y Examine"- to compensate for uneven supporting surfaces.

10 U.S. Cl. X.R.

References Cited 3 2 3 23 3 30 UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,213,121 1/1917 Mayne 3l2323 X U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE PATENT OFFICE Washington, D.C. 20231 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,439 ,967 April 22 1969 William D. Taylor It is certified that error appears in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 3, line 20, cancel "a", second occurrence; line 26, "51" should read 51. line 45, "polystrene" should read polystyrene line 62, "connected" should read connect line 65, after "of" insert each line 71, cancel "a". Column 4, line 9, "retaining" should read retainer Signed and sealed this lst day of September 1970.

(SEAL) Attest:

Edward M. Fletcher, Jr. Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

